Site History (APN 2069-078-009 and APN 2069-078-011)

Original Entitlement

In January 1991, the Baldwin Company processed an entitlement though Los Angeles County for the development of a large project called “Calabasas Park West”. The entitled project, which consisted of the development of 550 homes, a church, park, open space and 200,000sf of commercial area, was made part of the City upon incorporation in 1991. The portion of the project along Las Virgenes was approved for Commercial and Institutional use. 

Link:
1990 EIR

View of sites from 101 looking east, October 1990 DEIR

1991 to 2000
After 1991, the City developed a series of documents which looked at desirable site outcomes while acknowledging the valid site entitlements. The General Plan (1995) and Zoning Map (1998) set a new goal of housing on the eastern site.  In the 1998 Las Virgenes Gateway Master Plan, a non-binding “plan objective” called for a mix of commercial, institutional and housing on the two sites, though at a density less than that entitled by the County. While the 550 homes in “The Oaks” proceeded in 2000, development of these two entitled commercial and institutional sites did not.

Links:
Calabasas Interim Zoning Map, Sept. 1993; Calabasas General Plan Land Use Map, September 1995;
Las Virgenes Gateway Master Plan, December 1998

View of sites from Las Virgenes Rd. looking south, 1998 Las Virgenes Gateway Master Plan 

2000 to 2006
The properties were subsequently offered for sale; the westerly site was sold by the Baldwin’s in 2003, and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles sold the easterly site in 2006. By 2006, the two properties had been consolidated under the ownership of the Messenger  Company, who initiated discussion with the City in 2004 for a large condominium development upon their initial acquisition of the westerly site. The proposal was never formally submitted as an application based on City concerns, which primarily focused on the loss of the commercial component of the project and the developer’s desired intensity of residential development in higher hillside areas.

2007 to 2012
In 2007, the City embarked on their General Plan update, and with the guidance of the General Plan Advisory Committee (GPAC), visioning for the sites established a new mixed use community objective. This included retail and commercial components, along with multifamily housing centered on a community green, all in a clustered setting to maximize open space on the sites. General Plan illustrations (below) show the concept site plan for the project, and a view of the 3, three-story commercial buildings looking east from Las Virgenes Road.

Concept plan, 2008 General Plan         View east at LV and Agoura roads, 2008 General Plan

During final adoption of the General Plan in 2008, the City Council was required to address the State’s assessment of Regional Housing Needs (RHNA) as part of the Housing Element. To avoid impacting numerous Calabasas communities, the Council elected to intensify multi-family density at this location. As a result, the westerly site, which was zoned Planned Development (PD) carries a base entitlement of 155,000 square-feet of commercial use and 60 multi-family residential units; and the easterly site, which was zoned Residential – Multifamily (R-MF(20)), carries a base entitlement of 120 housing units. The Multi-Family land use designation also includes apartments, condos, townhomes and visitor serving uses.

Link:
2010 Zoning Map; 2030 General Plan

After adoption of the General Plan in 2008, the Messenger Company determined that the envisioned commercial component of the project was not financially viable due to the recession, and instead elected to submit an application for a gated (158 home) private home community with a small 21,400 square-foot commercial component.   Amidst that application process, another change of ownership occurred and the sites were sold to the current owner, The New Home Company, in August 2012.  

Canyon Oaks Proposal

On May 31, 2016, City Council approved the Canyon Oaks project (3-2 vote) with Resolution No. 2016-1507 for a residential component consisting of 67 single-family detached homes and four affordable units within two duplex structures occupying approximately 13.03 acres (16.9% of the site); a commercial component consisting of a 72,872 square-foot, three-story hotel occupying approximately 2.91 acres (3.8% of the site); and preservation of approximately 61.0 acres (79.3% of the site) as permanent open space. Ordinance No. 2016-333 (3-2 vote), Zoning Map amendment was introduced on May 31, 2016 and adopted on June 22, 2016. This project was defeated by referendum

View east toward proposed entrance at LV and Agoura roads, Canyon Oaks, 3/2015 proposal

West Village Proposal
On October 17, 2016, The New Home Company submitted an alternate project for the Canyon Oaks site, named the West Village proposal. 

August 2017 
The New Home Company submitted revised plans on August 2, 2017. Redesigned project plans includes the development of residential, commercial, and public open space/trail uses on an undeveloped site of approximately 77.22 acres. The residential component would include a non-gated community of 15 three-story multi-family housing buildings. Each building would provide 12 dwelling units for a total of 180 units, 27 of which would be designated affordable housing unit. The commercial component would consist of a 5,867 square-foot retail center, including restaurant and retail uses. Approximately 86 percent of the site (66.1 acres) would be preserved as open space. Non-remedial site grading would involve approximately 218,770 cubic yards (cy) of cut and approximately 240,785 cy of fill, with a net of approximately 22,015 cy. In addition, the project would involve remedial grading to reshape and slope the land to stabilize an ancient landslide hazard area on the southern portion of the site. This remedial grading would involve and estimated 2,403,418 cy of cut, and an estimated 2,406,971 cy of fill, with all soil being processed and balanced onsite. A Notice of Preparation (NOP) was issued on August 31, 2017 for the revised project. On September 14, 2017 a scoping meeting was held at the Agoura Hills/Calabasas Community Center, at 6:00pm. 

November 2017
The traffic study for the project will be reviewed by the Traffic & Transportation Commission on Tuesday, November 28th at 7:00pm.

December 2018
The Draft Environmental Impact Report is available to property owners, responsibility agencies and interested parties for review from December 21, 2018 to February 19, 2019. Please see the Notice of Availability, Draft EIR, and Appendices above.

March 2019
Placement of story poles in compliance with the City’s Story Pole Procedures, and incorporating direction provided by the City’s Planning Commission was completed on March 7, 2019.

July 2019
The Planning Commission reviewed the project in July 2019 and will make a recommendation to the City Council.